Britain: More Than 2,000 Arrested Over Riots, Almost 600 Charged

London courts charged almost 600 people over riots. More than 2,000 people have been arrested across the country.

By Elad Benari, Canada

First Publish: 8/12/2011, 11:06 PM

Courts in London have charged almost 600 people with violence, disorder and looting over riots earlier this week, Al-Jazeera reported on Friday.

Among the many arrests which came following the riots that started in London and spread to other cities, police have arrested a 22-year-old man in West London in connection with the death of an elderly man, who sustained injuries as he tried to stamp out a fire started by rioters in Ealing.

The 68-year-old man succumbed to his injuries after he was rushed by ambulance to a west London hospital on Thursday.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested across Britain for the riots, Al-Jazeera reported. London mayor Boris Johnson was quoted as saying people in the city wanted to see “significant sentences” handed out to those found guilty.

Courts in London, Birmingham and Manchester stayed open through a second night to deal with hundreds of alleged offenders, as Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed “swift justice” for perpetrators.

Meanwhile, British officers have hit back against claims they were too soft in their initial response to the riots.

Cameron said earlier in the week officers had been overwhelmed and outmaneuvered by the rioters.

But Tim Godwin, acting commissioner of London’s Metropolitan police, dismissed Cameron’s comments and was quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying, “I think after any event like this, people will always make comments who weren't there.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)